In the event of ingestion of certain radioactive actinides, it is desirable to monitor the discharge or release of these actinides by counting on an alpha spectrometer the body discharges within both urine and fecal matter.
In the case of urine, the sample is boiled to dryness in an acid. The dried urine sample is then ashed in a muffle furnace and then dissolved in another acid. The actinides are then gathered on a ferric oxide precipitate.
In the case of a fecal sample, there is a similar sample preparation process consisting of drying, ashing in the muffle oven, treating the ash with a mixture of acids and then precipitating with a ferrous phosphate.
In a prior art, fecal sample procedure developed for the Department of Energy, identified as USDOE, RESL/ID, A-16, 1981, the precipitate carrying the actinides is reprecipitated on calcium fluoride thereby further separating the actinides from aluminum, iron, titanium, and protactinium. The calcium fluoride is dissolved in acidic aluminum nitrate, and the actinide series elements thorium through plutonium are extracted into a quaternary amine. Selective back extractions further separate the actinides from each other. The uranium accompanies the plutonium through the extraction but is separated from the plutonium in the cerium fluoride precipitation step; the uranium staying in the filtrate. The uranium can be recovered by the addition of titanous chloride and more cerium carrier to the fluoride filtrate. All fractions are electrodeposited, or carried on cerium fluoride, on filter paper, and analyzed by alpha spectrometry for isotopic identification and quantification.
The DOE process creates some hazardous wastes, including perchlorated organic liquid, i.e., aliphatic quaternary amine.
It is, therefore, a purpose of this invention to provide a simpler, cost effective procedure that generates less hazardous wastes that can be easily disposed.